July 17, 2013

You can feel the anticipation, the excitement, the yearning for possibilities. The idea is taking shape and being refined and advanced toward something real. What if, is moving rapidly to can when. Others are gathering around the idea with their own refinements and thoughts. Momentum and excitement build.

In the "olden days" it was called "starting a business" now in some industries like high tech it's called a start-up. It sounds so perky and fun, doesn't it? I've been involved in start-ups and it can be frustrating and exciting, scary and fulfilling. They haven't all gone well but something keeps making you go back and try again.

After the Honeymoon

It’s six months in and the idea has morphed several times, there is yet to be any revenue and finances are dwindling. Long hours can no longer be fueled by espresso. Promises of stock options and some day aren't landing as strong on the team. This is not reserved for pesky start-ups. IBM, Xerox, Yahoo, Apple, Zappos, and thousands more have pivoted and changed direction. And it rarely (never) goes smoothly.

But we have the attention span of a three-year old. We meet the first challenge and we pull the pin. It’s much easier to think of a cool idea than see it through. And we're all guilty of leaving half-baked ideas in the oven because it got hard or we couldn't get others to help move them along. Money, time, excuses, we have them all at the ready.